24 June 2014

Dorothy Must Die Review

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

What I say (review): In Dorothy Must Die Danielle Paige takes the well known story of Dorothy and her adventures in Oz and gives it a fab modern, much darker twist. Where The Wizard of Oz has happy munchkins and clear definitions of good and evil, in Dorothy Must Die nothing is that simple.

Main character Amy finds herself transported from Kansas to Oz, which unlike the books and movie, is actually more like a Gothic horror or modern dystopia. The once kind and caring Dorothy, is now spoilt, cruel and more wicked than any of the witches. I loved this reversal because it really made sense when I watched the original movie again. Amy has to find her way in a twisted world to battle against a whole bunch of strange and unexpected evil. I really liked the re-imagined Tin Woodman (think evil Edward Scissorhands) and Lion even though they were spectacularly creepy.

The big shakeup (as you can tell from the blurb) is the complete change in the role of the witches. Is Wicked now good? Well they're trying to save Oz from Dorothy, but the clever part is how even though the story was flipped on its head I still wasn't always sure who was good and bad. It's a whole degrees of good or evil type scenario, or as Glamora puts it:

"Down is up, up is down. Good is Wicked, Wicked is Good. The times are changing. This is what Oz has come to."

As well as the original reworked ones there are also some fab new characters. I had many questions about Pete, Ollie and in particular Nox, which I'm hoping will be addressed in the next book! There were a few hints of a possible romance but the story focuses more on the changes to Oz and Amy's role, rather than teenage kissytime!

Amy is a breathe of fresh air when it comes to YA heroines. Although as far as heroines go, I have to admit she's pretty unlikely. She goes on something of a journey throughout the book (and not just from Kansas to Oz). I enjoyed seeing her go from the girl who is bullied to a strong fighter. She also rocks some pretty cool pink hair!

Amy has one purpose in Oz: to kill Dorothy (no spoilers here so I'll let you discover what happens and why)! Cliffhanger aside I really enjoyed the book, although I would have liked a slightly longer ending. I loved the dystopian, Tim Burton-esque twists and I'm looking forward to discovering what happens next. Ruby slippers? Nah, it's all about pink hair dye!